2019:

Hey guys, another week is upon us. Does not time race by?

I’m looking forward to what I’ll be watching this week. Salt was watchable enough, but this week’s film has a prior emotional investment for me. I’m either going to like it more than it likely deserves; or get annoyed at it for not doing the source material justice…

That’s right this week we’ll be discussing an adaptation of a pretty well known geeky IP. The best known arm of said IP is likely the 80’s cartoon or the accompanying toys- though the brand has graced comic books, later T.V reboots and of course, films. You’ve probably got a pretty good idea of what I’m alluding to at this point, but let me hit you with this- the film is NOT directed by Michael Bay (thank god). Any guesses?

While you’re chewing that over, let me say I’ve updated the Film Rankings page with Salt‘s ranking, slotting it in under Snakes On A Plane but above Hard Rain.

Until the weekend rolls around then, here’s a couple things I thought were interesting- maybe you will too:

–Ad Astra appears to be reviewing well so far: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/ad-astra-review-brad-pitt-ruth-negga-tommy-lee-jones-james-gray-trailer-a9081986.html

-Not having the time to review bad telly AS WELL as bad films, I’ll have to let these guys tell you about The I-Land: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/09/the-i-land-netflix-spoilers-ending-explained.html

That’s all from me folks. See you in a few!

-Tom

Sneak Peek: And we’re in Effect!

Alright gang? So this week, fresh off of the Sci Fi, B Movie-inspired jaunt through Viking Norway that was Outlander, I’ve got another film lined up for this weekend.
This one will likely be familiar to a few of you as it had a decent marketing budget, an a-list star and made some noise on arrival in 2010.

I remember it being reviewed pretty badly in Empire magazine (which I think is generally a little too generous with its scores most of the time) and indeed elsewhere. Furthermore, the dvd case proudly displays that proud Pound Shop Flix trope: good reviews from pornographic magazines (Nuts gave it 4 stars!). However, a quick google seems to suggest that other places (including Roger Ebert.com (!)) scored it well, so we will just have to see what’s what for ourselves. I don’t think it too bold to say that this Blog will give the definitive last word on the matter.*

All of this points towards a watchable, maybe even good, film. It’s star is usually pretty safe hands in this kind of fare too, so I’m more or less looking forward to it.

In terms of clues I’ll give you this: It’s a Spy film, and it ain’t called ‘Pepper’.

For now though, some other stuff you might find interesting:

There’s a film coming in 2021 (god how are we nearly on the 2020s!?). Pitch-wise they had me at ‘Jessica Chastain and Lupita N’yongo are spies.’ If this blog is still around in 2021,someone remind me to watch this as a bonus flick: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/09/jessica-chastain-lupita-nyongo-led-spy-thriller-35.html

(Aditionally it’s worth reading up on the linked stuff in the article about Fan Bingbing, Chinese star who is also in the film and was the subject of a brief apparent disappearance).

Vanity Fair recently sat down with The RZA, mastermind and founding member of the Wu-Tang Clan to discuss the Kung-Fu films that the group were inspired by, referenced and sampled. This is pretty much a venn diagram of my interests, but even the casual observer will find it interesting I think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ67KyHX-cY

Have a good few days and see you Sunday readers!

-Tom

*This is a joke, to be clear.

Peep this: Sneak Peak for Week 9!!!

Hi gang, back for midweek sneak peak. This will be our 9th film on the blog, which is pretty great- especially as I wasn’t sure I’d stick to this beyond one or two weeks. The truth is, I’m enjoying this, it was a good idea! It gives me a creative outlet, lets me be sarcastic and pushes me to experience films I almost certainly would not otherwise have done; for better or worse.

So this week I’ve got a corker I reckon. Belonging to a very specific genre of dodgy British film that you really only see on super market/ discount store shelves, the kind of film you might watch if you really liked crime films and for some reason didn’t have access to any of the wealth of infinitely better examples. I think its gonna be bad, but also I think it’s gonna be weird- and that makes for a pretty pleasing combination.

In terms of clues, I’ll give you this. One of the leads has a connection to -that ongoing indictment of 21st century society- Love Island. One of the subsidiary characters is played by the guy who plays the best character in Peep Show. And this is the kind of film that wants you to think Guy Richie might have made it. If you think you know- comment! Although I won’t blame you for keeping quiet even if you do; this strikes me as the sort of film you pretend you’ve never heard of even if you have. Like when I pretend I haven’t seen White Chicks multiple times….

I appreciate that there’s not much to go on here, but do your best…

I’m looking forward to this one. Despite a definite attempt to appear ‘grim’ and ‘gritty’, this will almost certainly have a higher rate of ironic enjoyment/ genuine discomfort than Dark Crimes. Tune in on Sunday!

For now, some other things I think are interesting:

– Another one brought to my attention by my older brother, See You Soon sounds like a quality stinker, worth checking out for bad film fans!: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jul/24/see-you-soon-film-jenia-tanaeva?CMP=fb_gu&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR1g3G7n0GU6U-1_y0GUrwf5JDy-T6b3mE3lMPOhrnB5qi2iO_eJyqcU7xc#Echobox=1563950852

-And this article provides a quick look at the world of ‘Mockbusters’- films deliberately made to be confused for other, better films. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/mockbusters-21-wonderfully-bad-knock-off-dvds-10128293.html This is a phonomenon which amuses me a lot, and thinking about it, if it were slightly crappier/ dishonest, Beastly from the blog two weeks ago would likely count as one.

That’s all folks! Be seeing you soon!

-Tom

Midweek Tease to bring you to your knees!

Hey guys, this post is tease for this week’s film. It’s a day later than normal BUT I think I’m going to relax the rules on when I post the teases. They’ll be coming on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of any given week from now on.

I knew more or less what to expect from Beastly. It was a film that snugly fit my preconceptions. Perhaps this is from my own experience, through formulaic marketing and presentation, or simply by growing up wen I did, and recognising the stars, the tone and the influences that went into it. This weeks film is less obvious to me. It stars two women I think highly of, but looks for all intents and purposes like completely forgettable make-up-the-numbers type of film. This is reinforced by the pretty unpolished (by modern standards) box art and the fact that the sleeve contains no reviews. However some initial research suggests that, just like Ronin, I may have piced a film that- despite mediocre presentation and me having no prior knowledge of it- is actually pretty decent. Time will tell!

For now I can tell you its a screwball comedy loosely based on the story of Cyrano De Bergerac , a French play about a man who, ashamed of his large nose, writes letters to a woman he loves on behalf of another man, who also loves her. The film is not as highbrow as this might suggest however, just taking the idea of love via a sort-of avatar and the theme of physical insecurities.

So here’s a little peek:

While you chew that over, here’s some other things I think are interesting:

-New Peanuts Cartoon! Don’t know too much about it yet, but any new Peanuts stuff is good by me. Feast your eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYA23cYTOB0

-Also, a film I’ve always meant to watch but haven’t yet got around to: Tetsuo The Iron Man is up on the BFI player. It’s a Japanese sci-fi body-horror cult classic: you should watch it if that’s sounds cool to you! https://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/five-reasons-tetsuo-iron-man

-I’ve created a dedicated page for the ranking of every film from the blog- check it out: https://onepoundoneflick.video.blog/film-rankings/

Until Sunday then, that’s all from me. See you here again soon!

-Tom

Hey you… wanna sneaky peek? Yeah you do…

Okay so! Merely days after the Red Surf post, here’s a sneak peek in its proper place to get us back on schedule.

This week’s film is going to be an interesting one. It’s a young adults film, but I’m not going to hold that against it- these films have a place, and there are plenty of good ones. However early indications (i.e a quick google) suggest that this film is not one of them. It stars a former High School Musical Alum -don’t tell anyone I know that okay- and another familiar face of the teen film scene.

My intention then with this film will be to take a slightly different. No-one wants to read a 26 year old bloke talk about why he thinks a teenage love story is dumb. Of course I do, I’m not the target audience! Instead I will try to judge the film on it’s own terms; does it do what it sets out to achieve, do I think its target audience would have enjoyed it? I’ll also try and tease out any points I think are good or anything I think it does well. I think this will make a more interesting read- it will certainly be more enjoyable to write for me.

So here’s your tease you naughty readers:

They wouldn’t say that if they’d seen me on the pull…

Any ideas? Lemme know! Otherwise, here’s some other points of interest:

– https://deadgoodfilm.com/ This film looks really interesting. A documentary based around the end of life, Dame Emma Thompson says: “(The film is) Beautifully crafted, so comforting as well as moving and gives the wisdom forth so simply and compellingly. Everyone should see this.” I missed it in cinemas, but perhaps its ne fairly well suited to home viewing anyway.

-It sounds like a new Matrix film is on the way. https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/the-matrix As a good 90’s boy I freaking love The Matrix and I love the sequels too (fight me!!!!). I must confess I am nervous about them looking to revisit the franchise. It exists in a specific time and specific place, like most remakes I feel it will be impossible to recapture that. But the Wachowski’s (directors, writers etc f the originals) are involved so I guess there’s some room for optimism!